FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(WASHINGTON – June 26, 2023) Georgetown University announced today that renowned physician, leading infectious disease researcher, advisor to seven U.S. presidents, and former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, will be joining its faculty.
Starting July 1, Fauci will serve as a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, an academic division that provides clinical care, conducts research and trains future physicians in infectious diseases. He will also hold an additional appointment in the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
The rank of University Professor is Georgetown’s highest professional honor that recognizes extraordinary achievement in scholarship, teaching and service.
“We are deeply honored to welcome Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, a dedicated public servant, humanitarian and visionary global health leader, to Georgetown,” says Georgetown President John J. DeGioia. “Dr. Fauci has embodied the Jesuit value of being in service to others throughout his career, and we are grateful to have his expertise, strong leadership and commitment to guiding the next generation of leaders to meet the pressing issues of our time.”
As a University Professor, Fauci will participate in medical and graduate education and interact with students — a role that reflects his interest in inspiring students to pursue careers in medicine, science and public service.
“I am delighted to join the Georgetown family, an institution steeped in clinical and academic excellence with an emphasis on the Jesuit tradition of public service,” Fauci said. “This is a natural extension of my scientific, clinical and public health career, which was initially grounded from my high school and college days where I was exposed to intellectual rigor, integrity and service-mindedness of Jesuit institutions.”
Fauci graduated from Regis High School in New York City in 1958 and the College of the Holy Cross in 1962. He went on to become a renowned physician, leading immunologist and infectious disease researcher and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH for nearly four decades. During his tenure, Dr. Fauci advised seven U.S. presidents on emerging infectious disease threats, including HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, avian influenza, swine flu, Zika, Ebola and COVID-19, among others.
He played a crucial role as a lead researcher on the study, diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS. He made key discoveries that affected the current understanding of the disease and, as NIAID director, he led and coordinated the development of successful treatments, engaged with communities who were affected, and was a key architect of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has helped save more than 25 million lives worldwide. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his pioneering work on HIV/AIDS.
Until December 2022, Fauci also served as the chief medical advisor to President Biden and advised the administration on the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. At age 82, after 54 years of service at NIH, 38 years as NIAID director, Fauci decided to step down from NIH. He was drawn next to Georgetown, a place that holds special connections for him and his family.
Fauci’s wife, Christine Grady (NHS’74, G’93), chair of the Department of Bioethics and head of the department’s Section on Human Subjects Research at NIH, is a double Hoya who received her bachelor’s in nursing and biology and Ph.D. in philosophy from Georgetown. Grady and Fauci were married at Dahlgren Chapel in 1985, and had their three daughters at Georgetown University Hospital.
Fauci has also engaged with Georgetown students, faculty and staff over the years, speaking on campus and in a virtual discussion.
“At Georgetown, students have access to the very best medical, scientific and public health minds, and now, they will be able to learn from the extraordinary experience of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci,who embodies all three of those strengths,” said Dr. Edward Healton, executive vice president for health sciences and executive dean of the School of Medicine. “We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Fauci, who has lived the value of cura personalis through his service to others and to the advancement of biomedical research and medicine, to deepen this impact.”
“Through his extraordinary leadership and example, Anthony S. Fauci leveraged his role at the National Institutes of Health to influence not only medicine but policy, saving countless lives around the world as a result,” said Maria Cancian, dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy. “We are honored to have such a distinguished practitioner, one who faced and navigated some of the world’s most pressing issues, to guide our students in becoming transformative global leaders.”
Training the next generation will be a major focus of Fauci’s work at Georgetown.
“The feeling you get about doing what you’re doing for the benefit not only of yourself but for others is one of the most incredible feelings you can get in the world,” he said in a 2023 address at Georgetown. “Public service is not for everyone. But somehow, fashioning in your life service to others can be part of everybody’s goal in life.”
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